AT&T Wireless kicks off Text Voting on third season of American Idol

Who will win America's heart during the show's third season?

Last season's neck-and-neck contest between finalists Clay Aiken and Ruben Studdard kept fans on the edge of their seats, proving every vote counts when crowning the next American Idol.

Last season, the US embraced interactive text messaging with unprecedented fervor, sending 7.5 million messages throughout the series. This year, AT&T Wireless is adding new ways for fans to get into the show by letting subscribers send text message-based fan mail to their favorite judges, host, and contestants, play interactive games, access dynamic 'American Idol' content on AT&T Wireless mobile phones via the mMode service, and more.

AT&T says that fans can send an unlimited number of text votes during the allotted 2-hour voting window following the Tuesday shows.

Some interesting facts from the last season:

One user sent over 4,500 text votes during the 2003 season

At one point during the 2003 finale, over 2,300 text votes were received each second

More than 1/3 of fans who sent text messages last season had never previously sent a text message